


Star Light, Star Bright

by iam93percentstardust



Series: 1000 Ways to Fall in Love [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stardust Fusion, Eventual Romance, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-20 17:46:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19381666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: Steve dreams of traveling the world and finding adventure. When he lights a candle and lands in another world, he finds an adventure greater than any he could possibly dream of- and maybe the love of his life too.





	1. In Which Steve Lights a Candle

Steve doesn’t know who his mother is. His father, when he’d still been alive, always claimed that his mother was a princess tricked into slavery by an evil witch. But then again, his father had also been the town drunk so Steve hadn’t been particularly inclined to believe him.

There’s also the simple matter that witches don’t exist in England. Every so often, rumors circulate that there’s a magical land on the other side of the wall outside the town but that’s just a story meant to scare children into behaving- “Behave or we’ll leave you at the wall and then the witches will get you!” It’s not _real_.

Of course, no one can really explain why Old Man Phillips refuses to leave his post guarding the wall if it’s not real. Everyone sort of waves it off as insanity but Steve’s talked to him. He doesn’t seem crazy.

Steve dreams of traveling the world and find adventure. Every year, the Summer Market comes to Wall. Sometimes- not always, but sometimes- Fury, the market’s owner, hires on people from the town. Five years ago, Steve’s best friend left with them. Steve’s tried to join him every year since, his resolve only strengthening when Bucky didn’t come home after his second year, but Fury keeps sending him away.

Too small, too weak, too sick- Fury’s got a new excuse each year. But not this year. This year, Steve grew about a foot and gained about a hundred pounds. He’s grown out of his childhood illnesses. He’s ready. Fury can’t possibly refuse him.

* * *

“No,” Fury says flatly.

Steve huffs. “What is it _this_ time?” he asks, hating the whine that’s appeared in his voice.

Fury glares at him balefully out of his one good eye. “Can you use a gun?” Steve shakes his head. “How about a sword?”

“No,” Steve admits. Then he sets his shoulders stubbornly. “But I can carry things.”

“I don’t need a pack mule. I’ve got Thor for that. I need a guard.” Steve doesn’t stamp his foot but it’s a near thing. Fury smiles grimly like he knows exactly what uncharitable thoughts Steve is having about him. “Look, I’m doing this as a favor to you. You’ll get yourself killed first trip out if you go out there now. Take a year. Learn to fight. We’ll see about next year.”

But Fury will just have another excuse ready for next year and Bucky will have been missing another year. “Is there _anything_ I can do to convince you?” Steve asks.

There’s an odd gleam in Fury’s eye. He points up toward the sky. Steve follows where he’s pointing. It’s a shooting star, albeit one moving much slower than he normally sees them. He studies it for a moment as it grows steadily bigger and realizes it’s not going to pass them by. It’s going to impact the ground.

“We’re leaving in two weeks,” Fury says. “You bring that back to me before we leave and I’ll let you come.”

Steve looks back at the shooting star. “I’ll have to cross the wall!” Steve exclaims, appalled at the very thought.

Fury shrugs unconcernedly. “I thought you wanted an adventure.”

* * *

The thing is, nobody crosses the wall. Nobody _can_ cross the wall. People have tried- Bucky and Steve among them- and no one’s been successful. Old Man Phillips is too good at keeping people away. Last time, he’d sent Steve away with a black eye and a broken wrist.

He figures he’ll try again since he’s stronger now but he goes home first to pack. He’s got two weeks to find the star and he has no idea how long he’ll be gone.

When his father had been alive, the attic had always been Steve’s hiding place from his drunken rages. His father was long since gone now but Steve still likes to spend time in the attic. It’s peaceful and quiet and the light tends to be perfect for his art.

He’s packing a small amount of paper, unsure if he’ll have time to draw on the trip, when he drops a pencil. It rolls away into one of the dark corners of the attic. Steve groans and chases after it. But, though, he knows it rolled this way, he can’t find where it ended up. He moves stuff around, digs through the junk, and eventually pries up a floorboard.

To his surprise, he finds, not his pencil, but a small basket with a motheaten blanket, a yellowed envelope, and a black candle. Curious, he picks up the envelope and realizes that it’s addressed to him.

_My dearest Steven, please know that I only ever wanted the best for you. I would have kept you in a heartbeat if my mistress had allowed it. I hope- oh how I hope- that we will meet someday. The fastest way to travel is by candlelight. To use it, think of me- and only of me. I will think of you every day, for always and always. Your mother._

He doesn’t quite understand. Is the candlelight supposed to be a metaphor? But he shrugs, reaches for his pack where he’s put a couple matches, and lights the candle. “My mother,” he murmurs. “My mother, my mother.”

 _The star_ , he thinks.

The next moment, there’s a flash of blinding light. He feels a tug low in his stomach and then he’s hurtling toward a young man. The man turns and sees him- his eyes widen- Steve holds out his hands in a futile attempt to stop himself- they impact and land tangled together, Steve braced over the man.

“Mother?” is his first confused thought.

The man gapes at him. “Do I look like your mother?” he spits. “Get off me!”

Steve thinks he should be forgiven for thinking the man might be his mother. After all, he’s just found out that magic actually exists. He thinks it’s not so silly that he thought the man to be his mother.

“I’m terribly sorry,” he apologizes as he stands. He reaches out a hand to the young man. “Are you alright? Would you like some help?”

The man pushes his hand away. “You can help by leaving me alone.”

“Well fine,” Steve mutters and walks away. He hears a low muttering and turns back slightly. The man’s sitting up now. He’s wrapped his arms around his knees and is looking around, doe eyes big and wide. Steve comes to the very abrupt realization that the man is both very young- probably a few years younger than Steve- and very pretty. He shoves the last part of that thought aside and considers offering his assistance again. He doubts it would be welcome though.

He turns away again, puzzling what went wrong with the candle. “’Light the candle and think of me.’ I was,” he mutters. “I was thinking of her- but then Fury and the star-”

He stops, realizing that they’re standing in the middle of a very deep crater. He whips back around to the man, who’s currently examining his (very) swollen ankle. “So sorry, this might sound weird, but have you seen a fallen star anywhere?”

The man looks at him like he’s crazy. “You’re funny,” he comments.

“No, really. We’re in a crater so this must be where it fell.”

“Yeah, it is,” the man says slowly, sarcastically. “This is where it fell. See, up there,” he continues as he points at the sky, “is where this weird necklace-” He starts shaking the heavy, almost gaudy necklace he’s wearing. “-came out of nowhere and knocked it out of the sky. And over there is where it landed. And right here, this is where it got hit by a magical, flying idiot.”

It takes Steve a moment. Then-

“ _You’re_ the star! You’re the star?”


	2. In Which Steve Begins an Adventure

The thing is, the star- “Tony,” he says irritably- can’t be a star because stars aren’t people. They’re just not. Steve doesn’t know what exactly stars are but they’re certainly not people. But then he looks at the way the star- “Tony!”- is softly glowing and, well, he’s just discovered magic is real and a candle sent him hurtling halfway across the country and maybe, just maybe, he thinks a star can be a person.

And that poses a new problem because, if stars are people, then his job has become much harder. Now he doesn’t just have to trek back across an unfamiliar land and arrive back in Wall before Fury’s deadline, he has to convince someone else to do it with him.

“Why are you looking for a star anyway?” Tony asks. He sounds a little nervous.

Steve tells him the whole story, about not ever being enough to join Fury’s caravan and Bucky going missing and how Fury had given him two weeks to return with the star. “I just thought I’d find a lump of rock or something.”

“And instead you found me,” Tony finishes. Thankfully, he’s starting to look more amused than annoyed.

Steve grunts. “I’m sorry you fell out of the sky.” He looks at the necklace again. It really is remarkably gaudy. What’s particularly odd about it is the gemstone in the center. It’s clear, rather like a diamond, but it doesn’t look like a diamond. It actually looks like it’s been drained of the color.

“You really don’t know where that came from?” he asks curiously.

Tony shrugs. “I wasn’t watching,” he admits. “There’s an engineer who’s working on a new train carriage so people can sleep and I thought that looked interesting.”

Steve grins. Tony reminds him a lot of Bucky, who was easily distracted by motors and engines. Then his smile fades. “And there’s no way to put you back in the sky?”

Tony’s mouth twists sadly. “Not unless you’ve got a Babylon candle.”

“A Babylon-?” Steve stops and pulls out the candle in his pocket. “Like this?”

Tony goes very still as he stares at the candle. Steve gets the impression that he’s doing some very fast thinking. “That barely has one use left,” he points out.

“So?”

“So you could use that to get us to Wall well before the deadline.” The words are almost dragged out of him, almost as though it’s physically painful for him to say it.

Steve nods, not even pretending that he hadn’t thought about it. “I could,” he agrees. “But you need it more.”

Tony blinks at him. “You- you would do that for me?” he asks wonderingly. His eyes are big and round. Steve can’t help but think that this might be the first time anyone’s been nice to him. Then he wonders if stars are even capable of interacting with each other or if they live too far apart to even talk.

“What do you say?” he asks quietly. “Will you come with me?”

“I can’t walk,” Tony says with a quick glance at his ankle. Steve looks at it too. It’s terribly swollen and he can’t manage to hide his wince.

“I’ll carry you,” he promises. He holds out his hand to help Tony up. “Yes?”

Tony nods.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr at @iam93percentstardust


End file.
